Golf bag



H. J. WlLKENS July 18, 967

GOLF' BAG 3 Sheets-Shee 1 Filed Oct. 24, 1965 H. J. WlLKENS July 18, 1967 GOLFEI BAG Filed Oct. 24, 196

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fll July i8, 1967 Filed Oct. 24. 1965 H. J. WILKENS GOLF BAG 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent Otlice 3,33 L42@ Patented July 18, 1967 3,331,420 GOLF BAG Howard J. Wilkens, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to Brunswick Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Fiied Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 504,414 7 Claims. (Cl. 15G-1.5)

The present invention relates to golf bags and more particularly to a golf bag having a novel cuff and wall construction.

Heretofore, golf bags have been made in a generally tubular shape with the walls of the bag extending sub stantially straight from the top to the bottom of the bag. One or more side pockets are included in the walls of the bag which extend outwardly to some extent from the normal contines of the bag. When the side pocket is in the wall of the bag opposite the carrying handle of the bag it protrudes outwardly from the wall of the bag so as to form an overhanging ledge relative to the bottom cutf of the bag. When the bag is positioned ready to be slid into a rack either on a golf cart or in the club house storage area, the bag is held somewhat horizontal with the pocket projecting downward so that the ledge formed by the protruding pocket -catches on the mouth of the rack. In forcing the bag to clear the edge of the rack the pocket can be torn or damaged so as to ruin the appearance of the bag. Once the bag is in the rack the same problem arises in removing the bag since now the top of the pocket catches on the inside of the mouth of the rack and must be lifted or forcibly pulled to clear the hangup.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved golf bag that overcomes the hereinabove noted problems of the prior golf bags.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved golf bag that will not catch or hang up on the edges of storage or carrying racks.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved golf bag having a novel taper on one side which eliminates protruding surfaces that serve to hang the bag up when putting it in or taking it out of storage.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a golf bag having novel top and bottom cuE assemblies.

And yet another object of the invention is to provide a new pocket and cuff relationship that eliminates unnecessary Seams, further eliminating sources of hanging up of the bag on racks.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a side elevation view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a rear or back elevation view of the embodiment of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional exploded view of the parts of the top cuff;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the top cuff taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross sectional view of the top cuff taken on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional exploded view of the parts of the bottom culi;

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional View of the bottom cuff taken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 8 is an exploded view of the parts of the top cut; and

FIGURE 9 is an exploded view of the parts of the bottom cuif.

lVhile this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, an embodiment of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exempliiication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of -the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Golf bags have traditionally been constructed with a generally tubulous elongate body. The bodies of the bags have been given many different cross sectional shapes when viewed in a plane transverse to the vertical centerline of the body, such as ovals, circles, eclipses, round corner rectangles, and the like. No matter what the cross sectional shape has been, all of the known bags make use of a top and bottom cui around the top and bottom edge portions of the tubulous body. The walls of said conventional cuffs lie generally parallel to the elongate axis ofthe body of the bag.

Canvas, leather or plastic material forming the main body walls of the bag is joined to the respective cuffs and include one or more pockets therein for storing balls, tees, jackets and other golfers paraphernalia. Some presently available bags have the tops and bottoms of the pockets extend or protrude outward from the body of the bag in a plane somewhat transverse to the walls of the bag to form protrusions or ledges. That is, tracing up from the bottom of the bag the bottom cuirr is nearly vertical; then the bottom of the pocket extends outward in a substantially perpendicular plane before continuing up the side of the bag. When a present-day bag is raised for storing in a rack in a pro shop or in a rack in certain types of golf carts, the bottom cuff opposite the bag handle is rested on the edge of the rack and the bag is then pushed in toward the back of the rack, Invariably the bottom of the pocket -catches on the edge of the rack which necessitates lifting and pushing the bag again or pushing hard enough to cause the pocket of the bag to climb over the edge. After many such treatments, it usually results in abrading or tearing the seams at the junction of the pocket to the body of the bag. As the bag is pushed into storage position the top of the pocket will usually drop down behind the edge of the rack causing the same strain on the pocket when it comes to pull the bag from the rack.

Other presently known bags have side pockets which taper to the top and bottom cutis, but an obtuse angle is formed at the junction of the pocket and the cuff which hangs up the same as the protruding pocket. The present invention is intended to obviate the hanging up of golf bags either as they are inserted or as they are removed from storage racks, carts or other like areas.

Referring to the drawings, a ygolf lbag It) is illustrated as a tubulous body 11 open at the top 12 and closed at the bottom 13. A pocket 15 is formed with and is attached to the one side wall 16 of the bag. A handle 17 and carrying strap (not shown) are formed with the same one side wall 16. The pocket 15, handle 17 and carrying strap can all be of a generally well known construction in use heretofore.

A second pocket 19 is formed with another side wall 2,0 of the bag which wall is diametrically opposite to the one side wall 16. A zipper 21 is normally associated with the pocket 19 for ready closing and opening of the pocket.

The tubulous body .11 of the bag 10 comprises a top cuff 23, a bottom cuff 24 and an intermediate or wall section 25 joined with the inner edges of said top and bottom cutis. The bag generally will have a skeleton frame which will consist of a relatively rigid bottom pan 26, vertical rods (not shown) attached at their lower end portions to a shaped reinforcing ring 27, and attached at their upper end portions to a shaped reinforcing ring or collar 28 which forms the shape and support vfor the top cu 23 of the golf bag. The top cuff Z3 and the bottom cuff 24 are formed in a particular way so as to provide a novel configuration which is adapted to blend smoothly 3 into the arcuately shaped intermediate wall portion of the golf bag.

The top cuff 23, as is best shown in FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 8, includes a vertical lining which can be of pliable vinyl material. Abutting against the inside of the lining 3Q is a support collar 31 formed of tempered fiberboard or the like which serves to stiften and reinforce the top cuff assembly. A pair of cylindrical exterior facing sleeves 32 and 33 are positioned in axially spaced relationship about the outer surface of the top cuff and are generally formed of a leather band of material which can be hand tooled if desired. A straight cut piece of soft, supple leather edging 35 is draped around the top ring 37 to form the top edge 12. The end portions of the leather 35 abut each other and project downward from the shaped and contoured ring 37. The'shaping of the ring 37 and its covering 35 forms the top contour of the bag. Another straight cut piece of leather facing 38 is positioned to cover the middle reinforcing ring 28 and has its opposite end portions sandwiched between the stiiening collar 31 and the facing sleeves 32 and 33. The main body section or wall 25 of the bag 10 is formed of supple leather, canvas or vinyl and has its upper end portion sandwiched between the stiffening collar 31 and the facing sleeve 33.

The facing sleeve 32 is attached to the edging 35, to the stiffening collar 31 and to the inside lining 30 by means of stitching 4t) around Vthe upper edge portion thereof. The upper portion of the facing 38 is sandwiched between the lower part of the facing sleeve 32 and the stiffening collar 31 and is fastened thereto by stitches 41. In like manner, the lower portion of the facing 3S is fastened to the upper part of the facing sleeve 33 and to the stiften ing collar 31 by means of the stitching 42. The main body portion 25 is sandwiched between the facing sleeve 33 and the stiifening collar 31 and both are fastened to the inner lining 3i? by means of stitching 44.

From FlGURE 8 it can be seen that the central portion 30a of the lining 36, the central portion 31a of the stitfening collar 31, and the central portion 32a of the facing sleeve 32, when juxtaposed together, will produce the raised entry mouth 45 of the open end 12 of the bag. The central portions 30a, 31a and 32a, when assembled, will be substantially vertical and parallel to the axis of the tubulous body 11 of the bag. The ends of the lining 30, collar 31 and sleeve 32 all curve slightly upward and are ail cut on a bias designated 3%, 31h and 32h such that when the ends of each part abut each other a taper or Y slope 48 will result, as best shown in FIGURES l and 5. That is, with the ends 3%, 36]), 31b, 31h and 3217, 32b abutting each other and stitched by the stitching 40 and 41 to the facing 35, ring 37, facing 3S and ring 28, the upper half of the taper 4S will result. The lower half of the taper 43 is completed by stitching the sleeve 33 to the facing 38, collar 31 and body walls 25 .as hereinbefore generally described. The facing 38, when viewed in the assembled top cuff 23, will have the appearance of a decorative band, as is best shown in FIGURES l and 2.

The main body walls 25 of the bag are cut from atemplateV in such a way that when attached to the cuffs 23, 24, one side or edge 16 will be substantially parallel to the axis of the body 11 with the edge opposite thereto forming an arcuate curved surface which will blend smoothly into the tapered edge portion 4S of the top cuff.

The bottom cuff 24, as is best shown in FIGURES 6, 7 and9, includes the stiifening ring 27 which has a support collar 52 on the inner side thereof between said ring 27 and the lower part of the wall 25. The wall 25 and the collar 52 overlap the inside of the upturned ange on Ythe bottom plate 26. A facing sheet 54 similar to, facing 3 covers the ring 27 with its upper and lower edge portions underneath the axially spaced apart sleeve members V56,Y

5'7. The upper portion of the sleeve 56 is sewn to the sleeve 52 and to the lower part of the wall 25 by means of the stitching 59. YThe facing sheet 54 is secured to the lower portion of the sleeve 56 by means of the stitching 69.

' normally incident to that wall Vinated. That is, with the taper 4 The sleeve 57 is attached to the facing sheet 54 by means of the stitching 61 and to the upturned flange of the bottom plate 27 and to the collar 52 and wall portion 25 by means of the stitching 63. Due to the shapes of the collar 52 and sleeves 56, 57, the one side ofthe bottom cuff 24 is substantially vertical and in alignment with the wall 1o `of the body wall 25 of the bag. The outer surface of the opposite side of the cuff 24 is tapered at 60 from the bottom plate 27 upwardly and outwardly therefrom so as to blend smoothly into the arcuately shaped side wall of the wall 25. The taper effect is created by the curvature of the parts 52, 55, S7 and by the angled cuts made at the ends of each part 52, 56, 57 so that when said ends of each part abut each other, a slope or taper results.

With the top and bottom cuffs 23 and 24 tapered at 48 and 60 along the side walls opposite to'the vertical nwall 16 so as to blend smoothly into the arcuate-contour of the tubular body 11, all of the ledges or obstructions of a golf bag are elimof the bottom cui blending into the arcuately curved main wall portion 25, there are no ledges that can abut against or hang up on the edges of racks into which the golf bag 10 is being inserted. The bag will move smoothly over the edge of the rack and into the stored position. When it is necessary to remove the bag from the rack, the tapered portion of the top cuff 23 blending in the arcuate wall portion 25 will likewise not present any obstructions or ledges so that the bag will smoothly slide over the edge of the rack kthe invention. i

Modern-day golf bags, when loaded with the requisite number of clubs and having the pockets filled with balls and shoes, sweaters and jackets, are relatively heavy and therefore hoisting the bag up to the edge of a rack for storage requires some considerable strength. Withrprior designs, forcing the bag into the rack often did some damage to the expensive leather or vinyl covers on the bags.V With the instant invention, once the bag makes contact with the edge of the rack, it can be pushed smoothly into the stored position without unduly abrading or tearing the edge of the bag.

I claim: Y

V1. A golf bag having a generallytubulous shape open at the top and closed at the bottom; a top cuff and a e bottom cuff encircling the top and bottom edge portions of said bag; one side of said top cui and one side of said bottom cuffs tapering from the top and bottom edges respectively outwardly away from the longitudinal'centerline of said bag; and means extending between the inner edges of said top and bottom cuffs to form a smooth substantially unbroken surface from Vthe top to the boti tom edges of rsaid bag.

V2. A golf bag as claimed in claim 1 wherein one side of said means curves from the inner tapered edge of said top cuff through an arcuate path to the inner tapered,v

pair of cylindrical sleeves spaced apart axially along said collar; each of said cylindrical sleeves overlapping either the top or the bottom edge portions of said facing; a second stitfening ring spaced axially from said support collar; a cylindrical edging member encircling said second stiening ring and having an edge portion sand- Wiched between and attached to the axial end portions of said support collar and one of said cylindrical sleeves; means for securing said sleeves to said facing, to said collar and to said top edge portion of said wall; said collar and said sleeves having their extreme end edges cut on a bias With respect to the edge of the bag such that when said edges abut each other the cutt will have one Wall lying at an angle with respect to the axis of the bag. Y

4. A golf bag having a generally tubulous body comprising a top cut, a bottom cui and an intermediate wall portion joined thereto, said top cuil? and said bottom cuff each having a plurality of superimposed layers of material sewed together, each of said layers of material having abutting end portions, each of said end portions being cut at an angle with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the material when said material is stretched out at and said end portions abutting each other to create a tapered side on each of said top and bottom cuffs.

5. A golf bag as claimed in claim 4 wherein said plurality of superimposed layers of material comprises a support collar superimposed .against said intermediate Wall portions, a reinforcing ring intermediate the ends of said support collar and secured thereto by a facing sheet, and a pair of axially spaced apart sleeves overlapping edge portions of said facing and secured to said facing, support collar and intermediate wall portion to form said top and bottom cuts.

6. A golf bag as claimed in claim 5 wherein said top culi has a lining secured to said support collar on the inner face thereof.

7. A tubulous golf bag open at the top and closed at the bottom thereof; a top cuil? and a bottom cuff on said bag joined by a wall; said bottom cud comprising a support collar surrounding the bottom portion of said wall; a stiffening ring surrounding said collar; a cylindrical facing member covering said ring; a pair of cylindrical sleeves spaced apart axially along said collar; each of said sleeves overlapping either the top or the bottom edge portions of said facing; means for securing said sleeves to said facing, to said collar and to said bottom portion of said wall; said collar and said sleeves having their extreme end edges cut on a bias with respect to the axis of the bag such that when said end edges of the collar and sleeves are secured in an abutting relation against each other, the cuff will have one wall lying at an angle with respect to the axis of the bag.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,795,880 3/1931 Mullins ISO- 1.5 2,591,217 4/1952 Thompson 150-l.5 2,866,490 12/1958 Thompson 15G- 1.5

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner. DAVID M. BOCKENEK, Examiner. 

3. A TUBULOUS GOLF BAG OPEN AT THE TOP AND CLOSED AT THE BOTTOM THEREOF; A TOP CUFF AND A BOTTOM CUFF ON SAID BAG JOINED BY A WALL; SAID TOP CUFF COMPRISING A SUPPORT COLLAR OVERLAPPING WITH AND BEING ATTACHED TO THE TOP EDGE PORTION OF SAID WALL; A STIFFENING RING SURROUNDING SAID COLLAR; A CYLINDRICAL FACING MEMBER COVERING SAID RING; A PAIR OF CYLINDRICAL SLEEVES SPACED APART AXIALLY ALONG SAID COLLAR; EACH OF SAID CYLINDRICAL SLEEVES OVERLAPPING EITHER THE TOP OR THE BOTTOM EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID FACING; A SECOND STIFFENING RING SPACED AXIALLY FROM SAID SUPPORT COLLAR; A CYLINDRICAL EDGING MEMBER ENCIRCLING SAID SECOND STIFFENING RING AND HAVING AN EDGE PORTION SANDWICHED BETWEEN AND ATTACHED TO THE AXIAL END PORTIONS OF SAID SUPPORT COLLAR AND ONE OF SAID CYLINDRICAL SLEEVES; MEANS FOR SECURING SAID SLEEVES TO SAID FACING, TO SAID COLLAR AND TO SAID TOP EDGE PORTION OF SAID WALL; SAID COLLAR AND SAID SLEEVES HAVING THEIR EXTREME END EDGES CUT ON A BIAS WITH RESPECT TO THE EDGE OF THE BAG SUCH THAT WHEN SAID EDGES ABUT EACH OTHER THE CUFF WILL HAVE ONE WALL LYING AT AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF THE BAG. 